Last week, Japan, China, and South Korea announced plans to build a new operating system to rial Microsoft Windows in their markets. This new OS will be built on a Linux foundation by a group made up of representatives from all three countries.

Microsoft's government affairs director in Asia said in response that the Redmond, Washington company was watching the situation closely. He said that their main concern is that the governments are getting involved in the marketplace, putting them into the position to, “…decide who the winners are.”

JOSHUA'S OPINION
I think that Microsoft has good reasons to be scared. The fact that the country with the second largest economy in the world (Japan) is a part of this endeavor means the possible loss of large amounts of revenue for Microsoft. Add to that the face it would lose if a majority of the Asian market left them for another OS. Of course, the point they have made about governments getting to the marketplace is bosh. Governments are so tied up in the marketplace that there is no way to untangle them.

I think that these Asian countries have the right idea. Even if they do not end up developing their own OS (though I see no reason why they wouldn't) they are effectively forcing Microsoft's hand. And when they do develop this new OS, they will have the possibility (designed from the ground up with large character sets and other area-specific software) of taking over a considerable part of their market.

Yes! (8:30am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)HA! HA! HA! hee! hee! hee! hee!……...Listen to M$ sing a different tune. Oh, now they want to try to act like they are all innocent and are such stout followers of a free market. HA!

I like this one, “We'd like to see the market decide who the winners are in the software industry,”. Makes me wonder…hhmmmm…who is the master of fud? the master of unfair competetion? bundling software? lying, cheating, stealing?

The sad thing is that some government lackey will say, “ya, thats right.” Not even noticing the Devil preaching holiness. The fox guarding the hen house. (I'm out of parrallels! ) wayy funny - by tom

Duuuhhhh!! (8:52am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)How stupid is this?? “Microsoft not too happy with Asian OS plans” It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. When any company loses business as much as Microsoft might from this announcement from the Asian countries then ofcourse they won't be happy. This is a pretty rediculous article. Besides, the OS hasn't been compiled yet. These Asian countries could be using their “threat” to build an OS as a means to drive down the licensing price of MS product, wouldn't be the first time. Heck, if you are a fortune 500 company that is an existing customer of Microsoft and threaten to go to a Unix solution, Microsoft will practically sell you your licenses for next to nothing….could this be the same trick??? Also, how many legal copies of Microsoft products are actually used in Asia??? When I was in Thailand last year I could get illegal copies of XP and 2000 Server for $5.00 US. Something stinks with the whole announcment of these Asian countires wanting to compile a new OS. - by Al Franken Sucks

Idiots(9:31am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)If you live the US, why would you be happy about asian countries making a new operating system. All the money they make will go back to asia, not the US. Microsft creates thousands and thousands of US jobs and incomes.

If the US loses its competitive advantage in software engineering, it will be bad news for the economy in the long run.

ThinkAboutIt:(9:41am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)“If you live the US, why would you be happy about asian countries making a new operating system?”

Because it increases competiton and through that, drives innovation and reduces prices.

“All the money they make will go back to asia, not the US.”

Well, this move could make Linux more popular, and that would help companies like IBM, RedHat, Oracle and so forth. And, of course, when popularity of Linux increases, it would provide American Linux-admins with even more job-opportunities. How is that a bad thing?

“Microsoft creates thousands and thousands of US jobs and incomes.”

How many jobs and how much income has MS destroyed at Novell, Netscape, Stack, IBM etc. etc. And MS has hoarded over 40 billion dollars to themselves, that money is away from the economy and shareholders. How is that good for the US economy?

And in case you didn't know, MS pays VERY LITTLE tax to US. - by Janne

Jobs argument sucks(9:51am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)Do you know anybody who works for Microsoft? If Microsoft went belly up tommorrow, would you get laid off? If Windows ended up being replaced by an OS that isn't so virus prone, would productivity go up?

Give it a rest.

- by PRFunky

openness will become an imperative(9:53am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)It'll take a while, but once enough of the world is on an alternatiave OS, The ability to view, use, manipulate a document on any platform will become an imperative.

When that day comes, users will have little reason not to go with the best platform as opposed to the most compatible platform.

To Everything Turn, Turn, Turn…(9:59am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)There is a season Turn, Turn, Turn…***********************************************Just like the moth that flies too close to the lamp, Micro$oftopoly has gotten too damn greedy and the line is now forming to spank that A**. No one thing will bring them to heel, but the combined effect will take the edge off of the Windoze giant. The line forms here… - by Adam Smith

M$ worries(10:00am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)M$ shouldn't be worried about losing the Asian markets. It should be worried about losing the US marked. If the “Asian OS” is userfriendly and has a graphical installer/uninstaller, coupled with linux stability M$ is going to be hurting.

Although they'll probably just lobby Washington to prevent the importation of this software… - by phatcat

More Kanji Keyboards(10:14am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)It would be a very cool OS if you could work in Kanji efficiently (Chinese characters, also used in Japan).

I don't think it will have a big impact on MS' botom line. Most North American and European countries would probably never switch to an Asian OS system.

Consider the fact that although Japanese cars are often very good quality, they only account for maybe 30% of the North American market share, even after so long in the market. - by Wally

Governments in marketplace not “bosh”(10:16am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)How would any of us like it if OUR government told us what OS to use?

How would the rest of the world feel if the US government subsidized overseas sales of Windows and laid tarriffs on any imported OSes?

That said, I still think this will turn out as an “Asian-optimized” Linux distro that will hold little interest in the States other than loss of sales for US software companies.

IMO, no government in the world should directly involve itself in the creation and distribution of any product. - by JRink

Re:JRink(10:49am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)“How would any of us like it if OUR government told us what OS to use?”

They do.

Next question.

- by Rax

Yo JRINK(10:52am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)Not even if that product was affordable housing for the poor? - by =)

Microsoft(10:55am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)To say that they have made allot of US jobs is right but greedy Bill Gates has made several trips afar (aka India) to start porting jobs over there! Microsoft is going to reap there rewards of greed, illegal crushing and bulling rival U.S. companies out of business. About Time I say since are own government is to stupid or to much of a coward to make things right. Possibly Government is in bed with them, Microsoft does have there source code hidden from all save the few, do they not (conspiracy theory) - by Regulas

Development happens in the piblic sector, and if brought to the private sector for free.

Fat Government contracts make companies viable, or not. Contracts based on lobbying, more than quality ( IN my opinion).

US Deparrtment of Trade promotes some products from some of our biggest companies overseas at taxpayer expense.

Our Biggest companies are given tax breaks left and right, at the expense of competition and smaller payers i the market.

I am not saying that any of this always wrong, but I have no illusions about this being a free market system.

So, if a cartel of Asian countries want to develop an OS solution for Asia, let them. Let their subsidized creation compete in the free market with our subsidized creation, an hopefully all products will benefit. - by Stinky Pete

Re: Governments in marketplace not “bosh”(10:59am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)How would any of us like it if OUR government told us what OS to use?

Even worse – the self proclaimed government of Microsoft DOES tell me what OS I have to use, or at least buy. I haven't been able to buy a brand name laptop for years without battling [and losing] to not have to pay for microcrap windows. - by Jason Straight

What jobs??(11:07am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)Microsoft has been shipping jobs overseas like the rest of the companies!! So much for the argument that they provide us with jobs.

The fact is that the Japanese are a lot less accepting of crappy products. Microsoft software really is the worst…it's only purpose is to make money for MS. It isn't designed “for” the customer, after all, look at all the crap they shove down our throats – such as DRM (digital rights management). Now who wants to talk about government dictating our OS?- by The Scavenger

A lot of (11:09am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)talk, opinion, and speculation. This may turn out a little different than any of us think. - by RCAman

Amusing(11:34am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)Just Amusing… - by VoiceOfReason

Hmmmmm(11:47am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)well i for one…

Welcome our asian overlords! - by Josh

Good for MS(11:53am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)This is what they are supposed to feel, competition. What they usually feel is hate, anger, devious to the point of either buying, suing or stealing the competition out of business.These are negative values that most parents correct in their children. Parenting matters. - by MS hurts everyone

So what is…(11:55am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)going to happen to m$. Will they go bankrupt or will they choose to go app only and devolop for linux and other popular oses??? - by Josh

MS vs LINUX(11:59am EST Mon Sep 08 2003)At least everbody agrees Linux is bad and it's not an alternative to M$ Windows …. because they have to start developing it again … and again …. AHAAHAHAHAHA - by mudley

What's this? People whining about the cost of serious Linux enterprise use? Folks get real? Have you priced Microsoft Server 2003 lately?

ADVERTISEMENT

IT managers who want to run an enterprise operating system like SuSE's Linux Enterprise Server 8 or Red Hat's Enterprise Linux Advanced Server are fooling themselves if they think they can get away free—or for cheap. Have you compared the TCO or ROI of Linux to Microsoft's Server 2003—the only serious new Intel-based server operating system left out there? I have the clear winner is Linux.

I know, I know: Server 2003 is the fastest Microsoft operating system out there, yadda, yadda. You know what? It is. If all you care about is file or Web server speed—not costs—Server 2003 is today's hot-rod server OS. Of course, it's also pretty darn fast with bugs too.

Besides, computing speed records last only months at most. Jeremey Allison, one of Samba's best-known developers, tells me that he's sure that a properly tuned Samba, now in the much improved Version 3, should do more than keep up with Server 2003 based on past results, where Samba kicked rump and took names, I believe him.

Remember when everyone talked about how great Linux was but that it was too bad that it didn't have applications? Think again. I hate to break it to the Microsoft offices out there, but Linux now has more server applications, many more, at its administrators' beck and call than does Server 2003. Who ever thought we'd see this day?

Think I'm talking nonsense? Look again: Stalker Software Inc.'s CommuniGate Pro 4.1 does a fair job of giving you Exchange functionality without Exchange's initial cost. Users get their Outlook e-mail and scheduling you cut your mail servers cost what's not to like? Besides, you can't run a shipping version of Exchange today. What was Microsoft thinking?

Want to upgrade your enterprise server operating system today? In terms of functionality, Linux wins in terms of cost, Linux wins and, if you upgrade to Linux, you'll win too.

- by Linux is Greeeaaattt

M$ must pay for Be's destruction: $23 million.(12:49pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003) Microsoft announced late Friday that it would pay more than $23 million to settle an antitrust suit filed by onetime operating system rival Be.

Microsoft did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, in which Be will receive $23.2 million after attorneys' fees. The total amount Microsoft will pay was not immediately clear from a joint statement by the two companies.

“Both parties are satisfied with the agreement and believe that it is fair and reasonable,” the companies said in a statement. In the suit, Be had charged that Microsoft's anticompetitive efforts led to the company's destruction, with the software maker's efforts having thwarted deals that would have put the company's OS onto major name brand PCs.

At least Linux on a desktop is doing better. You can buy desktop preloaded with Linux from Walmart, Frys and other stores. HP is coming out with a Linux desktop for the U.S. market. - by

From the CNET article: Windows is not safe(1:01pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)“Citing the recent high-profile virus attacks by the Slammer and MSBlast worms against Windows-based software, Hiranuma told reporters that it would be useful to “pursue a new kind–a different kind–of software code.””

Japan, China, and South Korea is not happy about the security problems with Windows.If you want to see how bad your security is on your IE on your Windows Machine, go to the website recommended by the Inquirer.

BTW, I ran it on Mozilla on Linux and I was secure. - by MS not secure.

It is easy to see why companies have not been vigilant enough in monitoring new patch developments, though. “At the corporate level, installing patches outside of normal patch cycles can be very expensive,” Matthew Kovar, Yankee Group director of security services, told NewsFactor. “It can range from US$20 to $30 a patch per end-user to as much as $100 per patch, depending on the network's complexity and level of support.”

This can add up quickly. For example, along with the “critical” flaw announced yesterday in Visual Basic for Applications, Microsoft also revealed four other flaws it called “important,” “moderate” and “low” (these involve Word's macro security model, the converter for handling Corel (Nasdaq: CORL) WordPerfect documents, Access' Snapshot Viewer and NetBIOS over TCP's Name Service, respectively).

In general, Kovar said, “we don't think it is realistic to update all of those patches at the consumer and enterprise level.” Instead, Yankee Group recommends better security at the desktop and corporate-network levels. Indeed, over the last few weeks Kovar has seen increased sales for vendors that provide such security software and switches. “There has been a distinct uptick in intrusion-prevention switch technology that can be placed at the perimeters of a corporate network,” he pointed out. - by MS not secure

Re: PRFunky(1:18pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)Ummm, yes I know several people that work at Microsoft. I still don't get your point though, but let me guess. So you are saying that if MS went out of business and laid everyone off that would be a good thing, or at least an OK thing because you yourself wouldn't be getting laid off? - by Being laid off sucks

Other Linux companies scared?(1:19pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)Hmmm. Granted, MS is scared by any competitor, but what do the major Linux companies like Red Hat and SuSE think about this? It seems like it's a direct threat to their gaining market share in Asia more than anything. But, if this turns out to be a better OS and not just Linux optimized for Asians, what will it mean to the US and Euro Linux companies? - by NotAFanBoy

Linux is Greeeaaattt(1:23pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)I think I speak for at least a couple people when I say, huh? - by ??

competition(1:26pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)

Its all about competition. It doesn't matter one iota if a single user in the US adopts AsiaOS – it will foster competition in the OS market regardless.

Take the Japanese auto and its impact on the US car market. Brining over a smaller, cheaper, and more fuel efficent car revolutionized the US car market. At a time when the US big three ignored what the American consumer wanted, the Japanese auto makers delivered. Did it kill the big three (ok, one had to get bailed out by Uncle Sam) – no. Did it improve our choices, prices, and selection? Yes.

And that, when all is said and done, is what this is all about. A new paradigm.

The idea that we should support MS simply because its a US company is a bit absurd. So is Red Hat. Whats the point? Someone already pointed out that MS hoards tons of cash… cash that could be pumped into R&D, divedends, anything… but it sits aside in the MS “rainy day” fund instead. - by chris

Governments in marketplace not “bosh”(1:36pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)Normally, any boo-hooing about a lack of a free-market by a monopoly like Microsoft is easily ignored. But in this case they have a point.

Those Asian governments could easily avoid claims my Microsoft of distorting free-markets. Instead of creating “the one official Asian Linux”, they'd be better advised to fund an Asian version of the multi-vendor OSDL (Open Source Development Labs) non-profit organization. They could work on adding Asian-specific extensions and applications (all open-source of course), which commercial Linux distributors in Asia could package and compete on in the free market. - by Old Unix Geek

More open source in U.S. Government.(1:58pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)Remember when Microsoft lobbied to have open source banned at the Pentagon.The DoD had a non-profit company, Mitre studied open source. Microsoft's lobbying effort has backfired. The Mitre prepared for the Defense Department concluded that open source often results in more secure, less expensive applications and that, if anything, its use should be expanded.

attention all intellectual wannabees(2:00pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)When are you people going to start thinking for yourselves?! What we're talking about here is a major challenge to US hegemony in the computer industry… In East Asia, and you think that's a GOOD thing? Is anyone here familiar with population trends? My God, just think of the devastation to the US software industry when this Asian OS becomes the mainstay in China. The ratio of computer users to population in China currently is 23/1000, but that number is going to rival our 482/1000 by the year 2011. That, children, is something over 600,000,000 computer users going straight to the reds.

And the JOB argument, as senior half-wit so eloquently put it, ISN'T a feeble argument. Once again American ignorance ceases to bewilder me. Our blue-collar jobs get sucked to China, our white-collar jobs evaporate straight to India, and you… people CELEBRATE at a multi-government agenda to undermine Microsoft in Easy Asia. Unfathomable.

And don't give me that “competition spurs innovation” crap you picked up in your 9th high school political science class. We aren't talking about two corporations locked in an economics battle of price and product, you know… capitalism. That's not what this is, so stop deluding yourselves. This isn't a new chapter in the Microsoft vs. Linux saga that we've all grown so fond of. This is, as putrid as it sounds, conspiracy.

These anti-Microsoft people are no better than those anti-war fruitcakes who watched 10 minutes of CNN, became self-appointed experts, and went out to protest the war effort.

We all know how the story goes, because WE'VE ALL LIVED IT. It goes something like this:

-Guy gets into computers. -Guy has friend who tells him about the evils of Microsoft and how Linux is much better.-Guy either looks through the crap, or lives out the rest of his existence hating Microsoft for no reason other than it's a big-evil-monopoly.

Wandering who these people are? Scroll up and read some of these post, they're everywhere.

I have bachelor degrees in computer science, political science, and economics, and an associates in web programming. Im QUALIFIED to have these “opinions.”

And for all those readers formulating your argument to this post, do your self a favor: don't. If it's ignorant, you wont get a response.

- by joe

I never knew(2:52pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)In America you have to be QUALIFIED to have an opinion? I think you need to go take a look at the Bill of Right and other documents our forefather came up with.

Besides you might have a 2.0 grade point fro all that crap you took. that would mean you received D's for most of your work.

How do you like that for an OPINION.

- by Rax

MS makes(2:53pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)piles of monkey crap.

No wonder Linux is on the rise at ALL levels of computers. - by LMAO

rax…(3:02pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)What on God's earth gave you the impression that nationality has anything to being qualified to have an opinion? Frankly, that's laughable.

Being qualified and having the RIGHT to an opinion are two entirely different things.

The poverty-stricken hobo can give me his Opinion about the evils of nanotechnology, but that doesn't make him QUALIFIED to have the opinion, does it?

are we there yet mommy?

- by joe

re: Joe(3:05pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)You have a real problem.

If microsoft wants to compete then they can. Nobody says they can't.

Unfortunately, they don't allow for competetion.

Microsoft has dropped language support for several locations, and provide poor support for others. And will not allow reasonable access to develop competiting language support.

So why shouldn't Asian countries develop their own systems?

You don't have to buy them… You have to buy microsoft.

- by old sampler

and Im looking for my problem(3:19pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)Sorry old sampler, but I do believe you've failed to grasp the real magnitude of this situation. This isn't democracy your seeing unfold, it's conspiracy. I don't condone what Microsoft is. We all KNOW it's a monopoly with hopelessly over bloated operating systems, and that it relentlessly buys up any shred of competition. So what's your point?

Yes, ladies and gentleman, monopolies are BAD! hello? Is this news?

What I'm saying is simply that a multi-government initiative to undermine an American software giant and cut into its bottom line HURTS AMERICA, and no real American should condone it.

THIS ISN'T CAPITOLISM THIS IS TRANSNATIONAL COOPERATION TO CUT MICROSOFT OUT OF A HUGELY LUCRATIVE FUTURE EAST-ASIAN MARKET.

Conspiracy.

But your right old sampler, if your not a conformist, then “you have a problem.”- by joe

Re: joe. Solution: support American Linux(3:26pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)“What I'm saying is simply that a multi-government initiative to undermine an American software giant and cut into its bottom line HURTS AMERICA, and no real American should condone it.”Then support American versions of server/desktop Linux such as Redhat, Lindows, Lycros (Redmond Linux), etc, and embedded version of Linux such as embeddix, cyrus, monta vista, etc. - by homegrown linux

You mean like MS cut stacker/DRDoS/… out of a hugely lucrative future US market?

And has been trying to cut the asian market out of their own language?

Just how is that different?

Are you trying to say that non US contries cannot have their own culture?Their own language?Their own markets?

You can still compete. But only if you listen to the customer. Ramming things down their throat will NOT work very long, even in the US.

Which is one reason why Linux is growing.

It is about flexibility – giving the customer what they want. It is not about delivering crappy software not about forcing people to surrender their rights to a foreign company.

What else is DRM good for? Consider, if the foreign government were forced to use MS software, then MS would be able to deny them access to their own data…

Especially since it requires access to MS servers for activation, patches, EULA changes,…

If you are looking for a conspiracy then I would fear that more than anything else. And if you want to make it even bigger, consider that the programmers developing this stuff live in India, Pakistan, Indonesia, …- by old sampler

Look at the auto industry(6:04pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)If you want to know what the future of software will be like if they pull this one off (which I seriously doubt they will), take a look at the automotive industry.

Back in the early eighties, Japanese cars were quite leterally a joke. But as the eighties wore on, they started cutting into the profits of the Big Three American car companies. To react, GM, Ford, and Chrysler all started producing cheaper (read: “junky”) cars.

With the unions having a stranglehold on US auto manufacturers, the only way to cut price was to cut cost. But first they tried to take the easy way out. They had the federal government slap HUGE import taffifs on non-US built cars. Japan reacted by moving their production to the US, thereby avoiding the taffifs and again competing on a quality vs. cost level.

Faced with huge losses and debt, American car companies ran to Mexico to get away from the labor unions. Now nearly all “American” cars are build outside the US and nearly all “Imports” are build in the midwest and south U.S.

I know there are lots of people who will cry and cry about lost American jobs, but look again. The Japanese factories in Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama etc. are all hiring American workers. The Americans, on the other hand, are hiring Mexicans.

So now we have a situation where buying an “import” actually keeps more money in the country…only the profit leaves. The base cost of producing the car stays right here at home (instead of Mexico or Canada).

If the American software industry (especially OS)faces similar competition, I have a feeling the same thing will happen. As pointed out earlier, most programming jobs are already going to foreign workers. In the end, I believe that legitimate competition will result in a much better OS for the consumer, much as cars built today by American or any other manufacturer are worlds better than the ones built in the 80's at comparitively more cost to the consumer.

Linux(7:01pm EST Mon Sep 08 2003)I agree with the concept of free enterprise and why they made laws to stop companies from killing off smaller companies (Microsoft)and give everyone a chance to play on the field, free enterprise. Linux has one problem, it is too free. When the Asians take hold of it like Microsoft holds the key to Windows you will see a easy to use Linux system. Want an example then look at OS X for the Mac. Maybe Microsoft should join the bandwagon like Apple did with X? It is more stable and secure. Comments? - by Regulas

China's move to encourage the use of locally developed software could brighten the outlook for Sun Microsystems, a senior company executive asserts.

John Gage, the company's chief researcher, said that the Chinese plan to develop operating systems using either local or alternative software like Linux spell the end of dominance by rival Microsoft's Windows. - by *nix guy

Regulas(3:11am EST Tue Sep 09 2003)Microsoft has no choice if this operation goes through. They should have done it before, but since they didn't, they'll have to play catch up. They always have the wrong idea that turns out to be profitable because everything they do is wrong anyway.Longhorn will be a fully outfitted proprietary DRM OS. HUGE mistake. People really don't want restrictions on everything they have while their security is a joke. I had a guy at my tech support job call in and ask if he could return his 4 month old computer because it never worked right (software wise) since he bought it. Guess what the OS was? M$ again.

People like Joe are so smart they're dumb. You can't tell three enormously powerful countries like S Korea, Japan and the great nation of China (read some Chinese history and you'll see why I say this) what to do in terms of computing. If they want to do it, they're going to do it and it will make Microscam look like the joke that they are. MICROSOFT CREATED THIS PROBLEM. WAKE UP WINTEL PEOPLE.

If they design this OS it will beat out all others except for Mac OSX possibly. Why? Because they're using a Linux core and it's simple mathematics. Somewhere within the populations of these three countries there are going to be a goood amount of geniuses, that's all there is to it. They will have a unifying common goal between nations, plus look at the state of electronics in Japan alone, it makes us look stupid. remember way back in the late 70's and early 80's when the U.S. had the chance to pioneer robotics technology but passed it up because there was no short term gain to be had? Now japan has the best robotics technology. We chose to explore AI, and we do lead in it and software tech but M$ has forced unfair standardization and stagnation upon us. We, as a people have been aware of this but have done nothing. We asked for something like this to happen.

- by SFX

Windows under threat in Asia(10:00am EST Tue Sep 09 2003)Still, other signs indicate that Windows is under threat in Asia:

• Across China, government offices are starting to shop around for alternative operating systems.

• Last month, China's biggest developer of Linux software, Beijing-based Red Flag Linux, announced that it was forming an alliance with Hewlett-Packard (HPQ ) to distribute its products not just in China but around the world.

• Asia's biggest consumer-electronics makers — including Sony, Matsushita, and Samsung Electronics — announced in July that they were forming the CE Linux Forum to promote the development of Linux-based machines.

• A growing number of Indian companies and government offices are adopting Linux.

The computer viruses that swept the globe last month may also make Linux more popular in Asia, since they were aimed at computers running Windows. Ironically, Microsoft may also have itself to blame for some of the business lost to Linux.

- by bye Windoze bye

2nd largest economy?(5:49pm EST Tue Sep 09 2003)“The fact that the country with the second largest economy in the world (Japan) is a part of this endeavor…”

According to Japans GDP (2002) is $3.55 trillion, while China's is $5.7 trillion, so doesn't that make China easily the worlds second largest economy??? - by Times have changed

Japan Market(6:53pm EST Tue Sep 09 2003)What if we got rid of SONY?…sorry no more PS2, phone, stereo, camera, discman, tv, dvd player, and every thing else that they make electronic that we buy to make their country rich..oh that would hurt.. - by somebody

The EU(9:36pm EST Tue Sep 09 2003)The EU commands the worlds second largest economy- at 9 trillion. Japan is third followed by Germany in 4th.

China is a distant 5th, but that is changing rapidly. - by joe

re:joe(7:24am EST Wed Sep 10 2003)this is just os competition article. not those like nation against nation. is not a war, calm down man. you are one of those selfish ass that only allow you to take over others. but wont let them to have their own change to do what they want. just like if us sale weapon to taiwan you think is the right things to do it. but if china sale weapon to korea. you will think china is evil. I feel shame on you if you re one of us. - by KKK

KKK?(2:04am EST Thu Sep 11 2003)WTF? - by SFX

kkk(7:09pm EST Fri Sep 12 2003)SFX, I have no idea. - by joe

once again, kkk(7:12pm EST Fri Sep 12 2003)I'm not a Neo-American Imperialist. And no, I'm not going to dignify your rancor with comment. Go to school. - by joe